More surfing but still digital divide

More households than ever have high-speed internet access, according to official figures, but some have claimed more needs to be done to deal with the "digital divide".

A report by the Office for National Statistics shows that 56 per cent of homes in the UK currently have broadband, compared with just 51 per cent last year.

Men were found to be the biggest internet users, with three-quarters of them having logged in over the last three months compared with 66 per cent of women.

However, it was found that those over 65 were the likely to use the web, with 70 per cent saying they had never gone online.

The Daily Telegraph reported that groups representing the elderly believed this was evidence that the government was not doing enough to get older people online.

"Exclusion from modern society is increasingly less about being able to get to the library and more about being able to access the rivers of information flowing in and out of British homes each day," David Sinclair, head of policy at Help the Aged, told the newspaper.

"If you cannot access these rivers you cannot take part."